Revealing Fate
by RisingEarth
Summary: Naruto's journey is to be who he wants to be - if he can ever find out who that is. Konoha is what the other villages strive to be like. Shinobi are what Konoha strives to create. Naruto doesn't know what he strives to be, but it certainly isn't what the others are telling him.


The sun was rising over the village. Red light spilled over the horizon illuminating the Hokage Monument signaling that the day had truly begun. The inhabitants of this village were slowly rising causing the streets to slowly grow more crowded.

Among this crowd, you could see a boy named Naruto Uzumaki exploring the village. He looked a tad too young to be walking alone, but that could just be due to his short stature. The crowd spared him a few glances, but they quickly moved on as they had much to do with little time to spare for a child.

Naruto quickly made his way through the crowds. His eyes gleamed with excitement that he clearly did not care to hide. As you will soon learn, he had been informed by the Hokage that he would be attending the Academy. I say this with certainty as Naruto himself was doing his best to let everyone else know it as well.

"This is awesome!" the boy internally yelled. He had never really considered being a shinobi until yesterday, but the idea was firmly rooted now. He paused for a moment to quickly apologize for stumbling over a lady's leg before proceeding at a slightly more appropriate pace.

The Academy was located very near the center of the village. It was rumored that it had originally been the office of the Second Hokage before being renovated. Very soon, although not soon enough, Naruto made his way into this building. As he opened the doors, he was assaulted with the rich scent of wood. A slight giggle was heard as the doors slowly closed behind him.

* * *

The Academy wasn't as endearing as he had hoped. The dark wood of the building was incredibly sturdy and left a foreboding feeling within him. He was pushed out of his musings when he heard a distant voice.

"Naruto, pay more attention! If you do not wish to be in my class, then I encourage you to either leave and not distract the class." Naruto shook himself away from such thoughts and tried to control the situation before it spiraled. "I'm sorry, sensei. I do not want to leave," he emphasized his statement with a few quick nods.

An unreadable emotion flashed across Iruka's eyes before he continued, "As I was saying, Konoha is the oldest of the villages and set the standard that other villages would soon imitate. Although we are still known as a hidden village, our location was formally announced in..."

Naruto made sure to keep his eyes on Iruka to avoid being caught daydreaming. While learning of chakra was always interesting, he just couldn't pay attention to the history of the village. Thus far, he only learned about the various positions from genin to ANBU to even the exclusive position of Hokage. He could appreciate them on some level, but it just wasn't what he preferred to learn about.

* * *

One of his instructors, Toishi-sensei, slowly formed a few hand seals before speaking the words, "Clone Jutsu!" Directly to his left, an identical copy of the man formed. "Those who can use this jutsu are to help those who cannot. Those who have not been unlocked, come forward."

The students glanced around for a moment before two-thirds of the class stepped up. Naruto thought for a moment before joining them. He wasn't sure how one went about unlocking their chakra, but he felt he would remember if he had done so.

Toishi glanced around the students before approaching Naruto. "Students, watch me carefully. We need to finish this quickly. Stretch your arms out as far as you can." Naruto automatically took a step back in surprise. He had hoped to get an idea of what to do before having to do it. It seems his hesitation was noted as the instructor widened his arms while Naruto quickly copied.

Toishi took a breath, "Inhale slowly and move your hands together while keeping your elbows apart. Do not exhale until you have formed the ram seal." Naruto did so and immediately felt a something moving through his hands almost like the feeling of static from touching a doorknob.

The instructor visibly reacted to him and leaned close to his face, "Is this supposed to be a joke? If you can't do something as simple as obey, then you're obviously not cut out to be a shinobi. All those who have unlocked their chakra are to stay with the others."

Naruto stammered an apology before walking back with a blush on his face. Apparently, he wouldn't remember.

As he joined back up with the others, Iruka-sensei caught sight of him. "Back already? I wasn't expecting anyone back for a while." He hummed thoughtfully before yelling out, "Shikamaru! Stop sleeping and help the other students." For further inspiration, "I do remember what your mother told me to do if you didn't participate."

At his words, the dark-haired boy groggily glanced over before waving Naruto over. The boy in question giggled as he walked to him. "You're Shikamaru, right?"

Shikamaru stared at him for a moment before sighing. "The hand seals are Ram, Snake, then Tiger. You can actually do it Snake, Ram, and then Tiger too. The chakra forms the same way. Do you remember how to channel chakra?"

Naruto struggled to understand the boy, so he just nodded. The hand seals were taught weeks earlier, so it wasn't too overwhelming. He ran through the signs for all of a single seal before having his hand swatted apart.

"It seems you don't. Do the thing Toishi-sensei showed you earlier." Shikamaru made a halfhearted attempt to demonstrate it.

The blonde did so and felt the same feeling as before. Shikamaru spoke, "This is the hard bit. Keep the chakra flowing while you change into the snake seal." Naruto tried to do so and immediately lost the connection.

The boy rolled over from his already prone position. "Keep trying to keep the connection. The hand seals change the chakra, but you have to keep the chakra flowing," he said through his yawn.

Naruto was tempted to kick the boy. Which would explain why he kicked him. It also was probably why he found himself lying on his back a few feet away. "Practice that before you do something stupid." Shikamaru promptly went back to sleep.

* * *

The clone jutsu was the first of several jutsu, but they were far easier for Naruto. He found himself particularly adept at the Henge Jutsu which let him form a minor genjutsu over the surface of his skin. Not many of the original class remained truthfully. A little over half the starting class was gone.

Naruto remained, however. He wasn't even sure if he was permitted to leave as the Hokage himself had arranged for his enrollment. Naruto didn't enjoy the teachers too much, but he liked learning about chakra and jutsu. Of course, he wasn't a fan of all jutsu. There was one version in particular that he disliked.

"Naruto and Kiba!" A loud voice called out. He groaned as he walked towards the pseudo arena that was little more than a sand pit. "You know the rules. Fight."

Naruto considered his dislike of taijutsu. It was demeaning and, most importantly, it hurt. For example, his consideration caused him to now sport a new bruise on his arm from a rather rough blow from his opponent.

"You're even worse than usual," the frustratingly cocky voice of Kiba said. "Have you been slacking? Ino might even have the edge over you now."

Naruto sneered, "Ino couldn't land a punch on me if I were as big as your ego." His sloppy blow was easily blocked as he was slapped back by a motion he barely registered.

"At least she can throw a punch!" Kiba grinned as he jumped over Naruto's form and ran his too sharp finger over Naruto's neck.

Iruka nodded, "Match! Naruto, go to the medic. Next is..." Naruto droned him out as he let the healer remove his bruises before heading off towards the trees to watch the fights.

Taijutsu was definitely not his strong suit. He didn't mind it too much until when he was put against Kiba or Sasuke. He could at least hold his own against the other students, but those two were above any of the other students except perhaps Chouji.

* * *

"Clone jutsu!" he announced. A moment passed where a visual copy of the boy coalesced into being. It was a tad too dark, but it stayed.

The instructor narrowed his eyes as he waved his hand through it causing it to shimmer away. The silent sound of writing on paper was far louder than Naruto had ever experienced before he was forced to catch something thrown at him, "You pass. Report to Iruka with the other students."

Naruto identified the object as as a headband. He quickly tied it around his forehead and left as another student entered the room. Now that he didn't have to perform the jutsu, he let his nervousness spill out. He struggled horribly with the jutsu, but he could just about manage it if he forced himself to remain calm.

He arrived in the large room that worked as the meeting place. Unsurprisingly, the former division between the students only grew more pronounced with time. Almost all of the children who had their chakra unlocked beforehand were in the room with him. "Then again, I was in that group," he thought to himself.

He was one of the last to be called, so there were only a few more students who joined after him. The least surprising of which was Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto wasn't entirely certain why he was even still in the Academy, but that wasn't his business. Soon, the children grew silent as the head instructor, Iruka, joined them with a shadow following him that immediately caused a pressure to be felt in the room.

"It has been a pleasure to see all of you grow over the years. Many of our original numbers have left, but it brings me joy to see you prevail. However, I doubt that I am the one you wish to hear from." Iruka's speech ended unusually short, but there was someone else who was to speak.

The Hokage straightened his straight robes as he chuckled, "Don't downplay yourself, Iruka-san. These are your students, after all." The Hokage smiled warmly at the class before continuing

in his elderly voice, "As your sensei said, I too am beyond proud to see the new generation sprout. The new generation will always supersede the one, and I must say that I have high hopes for the future of Konoha. Each one of you has gone through various trials and have many more awaiting you. This is the first step into your futures and a new step for the future of Konoha. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you become powerful branches of our great tree."

Naruto's heart sped up as he listened to the speech. He had never expected that the leader of the village would be here. Naruto even thought that he saw a glance hover of him before he continued.

"You will be grouped into various teams and assigned a sensei based on your individual skills. There you will find your talents blossom as you learn from your sensei just as your sensei learns from you. All of the jonin you may find yourself with are incredibly talented shinobi who I have personally approved of."

The Hokage took a step back and waved an arm towards Iruka. After Iruka cleared his throat, he listed off the students without a fraction of the charisma that the prior speaker held.

Nevertheless, the students still felt excited to see who they would get as a sensei. Each jonin was a legend by themselves, and it was a massive stroke of good fortune to even get a glance from one. There were even rumors of a failed student who flew through the Academy after getting the assistance of a jonin.

Naruto's anticipation was visible as his name was called with his teammates. "Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Aburame Shino led by Jonin Hatake Kakashi."

A slight pause and a figure appeared in a swirl of leaves. Pale hair was contrasted by a dark mask and a single visible eye. Naruto shivered as he felt the man look at him. "Third Training Grounds." The man vanished without any sign he was there.

Naruto was frozen in shock for a few seconds before he stood to leave the near-empty room only for a voice to stop him, "Where are you going?"


End file.
